The need for Haitian sovereignty to face current crisis w/ Frantz Voltaire

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[@huguettedavilmat-co7hs]

Thanks for covering the topic. This is not discussed enough.

[@Friedfish-zm7fx]

Blaming Haiti's rice imports on forced decreased rice tariffs from 50% to 3% (in the Dominican Republic the rice tariff is 20%) appear to be a bit misplaced.
Haiti Imports, by year (A) = total($B); (B) = Petrol($M); (C) = Fabrics ($M); (D) = Palm Oil ($M); (E) = Wheat ($M); (F) = Rice ($M); (G) = Cars ($M);
(H) = Poultry Meat ($M); (I) = Sugar($M);
Year_______(A)______(B)______(C)_______(D)_____(E)_____(F)_______(G)_____(H)______(I)
2018_____4.18_____317______391_____118_____106_____254_____121_____100_____87
2019_____3.84_____292______384_____111_____143_____237______77_____103_____85
2020_____3.75_____240______294_____147_____108_____297_____129_____101____103
2021_____4.12_____295______413_____168_____112_____248_____170_____156____109
2022_____5.93_____525______275_____126_____160_____256_____126_____112_____91
A lot of focus on rice. The US is the major source of rice to Haiti. However one overlooks Haiti's deficits in Palm Oil, Poultry, Sugar: are the Clintons making money off these commodities?
Haitian rice production has remained essentially steady since the 1970s, at around 70,000 tons/yr. There were peak production of 90,000 tons in 1985, of 80,000 tons in 1996, of 77,000 tons in 2011. Year 2011 is interesting because the cholera outbreak in Haiti happened in the Artibonite Valley (rice growing region) on Oct 2020. Haiti 1960 rice production was 40,000 tons increasing gradually to 68,000 tons in 1970.
Meanwhile, rice imports started to grow in 1985 at 700 tons (same time as Haiti's peak rice production), to 80,000 tons in 1990, to 150,000 tons in 1995, growing gradually to 300,000 tons in 2015.
The forced (by Clinton Administration in 1996) tariff decrease to 3% evidently had NO effect on Haiti rice production. There is no way to boost Haiti's rice production 4-fold (= 300,000/70,000). At no point in history had Haiti produced 300,000 tons of rice annually. One has to look at the range of food crops in Haiti and food consumption in Haiti.
Along with corn, beans, tubers and plantains, rice has an increasing share in the basic domestic diet due to the relatively low cost. Haitians used to consume rice once-a-week in the 1980’s. The higher food demand induced by the fast population growth and lower import tariffs implemented in the late 1980s to address this need made rice imports one of the least expensive carbohydrate sources. As a result, rice has become a basic item for daily use today. The low prices of imported rice have helped change consumption patterns of some consumers, enticing them to insert rice as a less expensive alternative source of carbohydrate. Blending imported rice with other starchy foods such as bread and imported pasta, and other staple foods like, plantains, sweet potato, cassava and dasheen has become part of the Haitian diet.